Does gravel belong in the Tour de France? Off-road stage of 2024 route divides opinion

You know the gravel hype is real when the Tour de France is getting on board, although the inclusion of 14 sectors of rough stuff in the 2024 route has not proved universally popular.

While the mountains were totted up and balanced against the kilometres against the clock, one of the main talkings points from ASO’s grand route reveal was the gravel, with a huge helping of chemins blancs (white tracks) in the rolling Champagne vineyards coming up on stage 9 of next year’s race.

Of course, gravel is hardly new to the Tour de France, given the race has covered unpaved roads for much of its history, but in the context of gravel as a trendy alternative to asphalt, this is a major new step for the world’s biggest race. In recent history, we’ve only had the short gravel stretch at the top of the Super Planche Des Belles Filles and a single sector towards the end of the 2020 Tour, but the gravel stage of the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, on some of the same sectors, proved to be an inspiration for the organisers.

With 32km of gravel spread over 14 sectors at the end of the opening week in 2024, it’s safe to say it’ll be one of the most hotly anticipated days of the entire race. But that feeling won’t be shared by all.

“Gravel is, for me, not necessary. I would not put it in a race such as this. The luck factor is getting too big,” said Jumbo-Visma boss, Richard Plugge.

“The old legends of cycling would be happy that we can finally race on asphalt, and now we go back to how it was 30 or 40 years ago. For me that’s not necessary.

“On the other hand, it’s part of it, and we have to deal with that. The rest of the parcours is brilliant.”

In a sardonic addition, Plugge suggested that the recently-crowned UCI Gravel World Champion Matej Mohorič "needs to get his rainbow jersey out of the closet".

Plugge was the most forthright in his objection to the gravel. His counterpart at Soudal Quick-Step, Patrick Lefevere, was a little more restrained, despite a track record that includes saying the founders of Gent-Wevelgem would be “turning in their graves” when gravel plugstreets were introduced to the Belgian Classic in 2017.

“I love it in Strade Bianche,” Lefevere said of the gravel, rather pointedly. “It’s like asking me what I think about cobblestones in the Tour... I'm not a fan of it."

“There are pros and cons, like the pavé stages. There are people who love it and people who hate it. You can not win the Tour there but you can lose it.”

GCN put all this to race director Christian Prudhomme, who produced a spirited defence of his and route director Thierry Gouvenou’s design.

“All stages have their place in the Tour de France – the cobbled stages, the stages with climbs, the stages with descents, the stages for the sprinters, the mountain stages… they’re all part of the Tour,” he said.

“When you look at the images of Jacques Anquetil in the 1960s, you see the roads, they don’t really look like roads, they look exactly like the gravel tracks of today.

“Around 50 gravel tracks were visited by former riders of the Tour, as part of Thierry Gouvenou’s team, so it was former riders who chose the sectors.”

Prudhomme had plenty of support in the room. Most riders we spoke to were in favour of the race mixing things up and embracing what is undeniably cycling’s major growth area.

Even TotalEnergies manager Jean-René Bernaudeau, seen as one of the old-school French bosses, was on board.

“Cycling has evolved. It’s not completely idiotic to think that we should have a mix of what we’ve done historically and what can make the sport grow, and gravel is part of that,” he told GCN.

“Off-road paths are the safety of cycling, the safety of our children. The chemins blancs will be a global exhibition of cycling in a magical place. I like it a lot. There will be a lot of stress, tech will be important, and so will luck, but that’s part of the game. You have to adapt, but I like it.”

Do you think gravel has a place in the Tour de France? Let us know in the comments below.